


I'll Build A Town For You

by SuperIceLight



Series: On My Own [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hogwarts First Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 16:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18237461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperIceLight/pseuds/SuperIceLight
Summary: Ron's excited for his first year in Hogwarts - he's been waiting for years for this moment! And he found his first friend before he even boarded the train. What could possibly go wrong?





	I'll Build A Town For You

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of a rewrite spanning the whole plot of the books, mainly from Ron's POV. It's very close to canon at first, but there will be larger divergences later.

Why does his mother make such a show of getting to the gate every year, Ron thinks, embarassedly glancing around the station.

His eyes fall on a boy his age, looking lost. He's wearing too big muggle clothes, broken glasses and is starring right back at him with bright green eyes.

Startled, Ron squeaks - makes a startled exclamation, not squeaking.

Turning, his mother says: "Ron", before spotting the boy and calling out to him.

"Hello, dear! First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too."

"Um, yes", the boy says, smiling shyly at her.

"You must be so excited!", she blabs, "I remember my first time going to Hogwarts, I could barely sleep! Ron's been talking about nothing else for weeks -"

"Mum", Ron whines.

"Well, why don't the two of you go through the barrier together? Just straight at the wall now, and if you're scared try running. It helps!"

Ron exchanges a look with the boy. They start walking slowly towards the wall. He's not nervous, of course. He's just worried the boy might be, and that's the only reason he starts jogging.

Since the boy keeps his pace, and even gets faster, he was clearly right and not anxious at all.

"Wow", the boy says quietly as the stumble through the barrier.

Ron laughs. "Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?"

He nods, opening his mouth -

"Oh, did ikkle Ronnikins make a little friend already?" George's delighted voice says, seconds before Ron finds himself wrapped up in a headlock.

"Get off me", he complains, wiggling and twisting.

"Oh, but we couldn't possibly -"

"Fred, George", his mother sighs, "what are you doing, let go of your brother! And George", she snaps, "I can see you, don't you dare."

George freezes with his outstreched arms almost touching the wide-eyed boy. "But mum, I'm Fred!", he says.

"Oh Fred, I'm sorry, but you still can't -"

"Hey", Ron says quietly under the twins usual dramatics, "Do you want to go find a compartement together?"

"Sure", the boy says and starts untangling himself from the gaggle of Ron's family. He keeps moving away while Ron has to endure his mothers fussing, the traitor.

 

When they've finally found some peace and quiet in an emtpy cabin, Ron offers the boy his hand and says: "Sorry about the twins. I'm Ron, Ron Weasly."

"Harry", the boy says, "Harry Potter."

"Is everything alright?", he adds when Ron states at him in silence.

"Harry Potter? The Harry Potter?"

"Uh, yes", he says.

 

Ron may have asked too many questions, but Harry seems equally fascinated with his family, so he guesses it's fine.

Harry doesn't even mock him for Scabbers!

 

"Anything off the cart, dears?"

Ron blushes. He wants something, but - he can't afford it, and besides his mother made him something anyways.

He's astonished as he watches Harry buy everything.

"Hungry, are you?", he asks.

Harry digs in, and Ron looks at his sandwiches.

"She always forgets I don't like corned beef", he says.

"Swap you for one of these", Harry says, and soon they're eating through all of his sweets.

 

"Did you know you have dirt on your nose?" Hermione Granger asks, and Ron just barely manages not to stick his tounge out at her.

 

Hogwarts is greater than Ron imagined. He didn't know a building could be this beautiful. He glances at Harry, wants to whisper to him about it - but when he sees his face, he hesitates.

Harry's face is open, a soft smile plays around his lips and there's such wonder in his eyes. Ron looks away, strangly feeling like he just saw him naked.

 

Ron nearly vibrates when they have to wait again.

How are they gonna be sorted? He hopes it's not fighting a troll. He doesn't think he'd be good at that.

 

"So we just have to try on a hat", Ron whispers to Harry, "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

 

Professor McGonagall starts reading out the students names, and Ron prepares himself for a long wait.

Hermione Granger becomes a Gryffindor, and Ron thinks of having to share a common room with her for seven years and groans.

Then - "Potter, Harry!" - the hall goes quiet.

Harry inhales quietly, and walks towards the hat with quick steps, almost like he doesn't notice the way people are staring at him and whispering, were it not for the pinched expression on his face.

Please be Gryffindor, Ron thinks, come on, we'll go there together and we'll be great.

The whole hall seems to be holding its collective breath - and nothing happens. The silence goes on, and on, the whispers pick up again, Ron clenches his hands and closes his eyes, until -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry pulls off the hat and walks over to the table on the far left as they interupt into cheers.

Ron can hear Fred and George starting a celibratory chant, and Percy - of course - has to shake Harry's hand first.

If only I get into Gryffindor too, now, he thinks.

 

"Weasly, Ron!" Professor McGonagall calls out and he walks on shaky legs.

"Oh, what do we have here?" The hat's gruff voice says. "Another Weasley? Brave, of course. Not bad at strategy either and what a longing for greatness! Like most of your pack, loyal to a fault, of course. Where should I put you, hmm?"

In Gryffindor, Ron thinks, I want Gryffindor, with my brothers and with Harry.

"Gryffindor, hm? Such loyalty would suit you well in Hufflepuff."

I'm a Gryffindor, Ron thinks.

"Well, if you already are, I'll better put you in - GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron grins as he runs to his house, his brothers and his friend.

 

The feast is great. The food tastes amazing - not as good as his mum's cooking but you can't get better than that - and there's so much of it! Ron could die here, and he'd be happy.

He meets the Half-Headless Nick for the first time! And he gets to see why he's half-headless too. The other boys seem nice as well.

Suddenly, he hears Harry gasp. When he looks over at him, he's clutching at his head.

"What is it?" Percy asks.

"Nothing", Harry says quickly, "I just felt a bit lightheaded."

"Well, it was a long and exciting day for you", Percy says, and Ron rolls his eyes at him. He always acts so grown up and superior.

Harry smiles, however, and strikes up a conversation about the teachers with him.

 

After Dumbledore makes them sing the school song, which sounds awful but is great fun, Percy gets another chance to strut around like the overgrown chicken he is, and leads them to their common room.

 

"Great food, isn't it?" Ron murmers sleepily, then has to brush Scabbers away from his sheets. How can that rat still be in the mood to eat? He feed him at the feast!

 

At breakfast the next morning, Percy asks: "How was your first night?"

"Good", Ron says shortly.

"Yes, thank you", Harry agrees politely.

"Good, good", he says, "Make sure you write Mum this week, Ron, you know she worries."

"Thanks, Mum", Ron says, rolling his eyes.

 

Walking around with Harry is the strangest thing Ron's ever done. People stare and whisper all the time. They even followed them around!

Well, not them, of course. No, Ron's gotten promoted. From "the second youngest Weasley" to "the tall redhead next to Harry Potter". Great, Ron thinks causticly, and they didn't even offer to show them around.

Even most of the teachers are weird about Harry. It's not like Ron doesn't get it - it's the Boy Who Lived, after all, how amazing is that? - but Harry is... just Harry. He's not great at magic, good, but not great, he doesn't know the way around any better than Ron and he almost falls asleep in History of Magic, just like everyone else.

Except Granger, of course. She even writes everything down that Binns says. Who does that? Not even Percy, that's who.

She gets McGonagall to smile at her too. In the first lesson! It's just not right.

All in all, they have fun, Ron would say. Classes are alright, so are their classmates, the castle is great and they have each other already!

 

Then Potions happens.

It starts going wrong before class even begins, when Draco Malfoy catches up with them on the way to the classroom.

"Potter!", he says, "We never had the chance to get properly introduced on our first meeting. I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. These are Crabbe and Goyle." He points behind him to the goons playing bodyguard.

"I remember", Harry says evenly, causing Ron to blink at him. He's never heard Harry sound like that. Also, when did he meet Malfoy?

"Well, yes", he says distainfully, "No need to ask who your... companion is, is there? Red hair, freckles, more children than they can afford - typical Weasley. Anyway, Potter", he continues, ignoring Ron's outraged look, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. You already got yourself sorted into Gryffindor, which is a shame, but I can still help you there."

He streches his hand out and looks at Harry expectantly.

How dare he, Ron thinks, shocked speechlessly. Harry would never abandon him for Malfoy!

Would he?

Harry looks at Malfoy, for a long moment, then says cooly: "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thank you."

Malfoy goes slightly pink, and Ron feels exhilarated.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he says slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

"I don't feel like being polite to people who managed to insult my parents twice in the two conversations I've had with them", Harry says, "If you apologize appropriatly I'd be happy to talk to you, but until you do we won't be on good footing."

Ron snorts as Malfoy makes a fist and reaches for his wand in an aborted gesture. He opens his mouth -

"It was a pleasure meeting you", Harry interrupts, reaching out, "Crabbe, Goyle. I hope you're doing well in your classes."

"Uhh", Crabbe says as the two of them reflexivly shake Harry's hand.

"Feel free to come talk to me if you ever need my help or anything", Harry continues and smiles, completely ignoring Malfoys noise of outrage to turn away and walk into the classroom.

Ron laughs in his face, then follows his friend. That was amazing, he thinks, Malfoy looked like he swallowed frog spawn!

"That was amazing!" he says to Harry as they sit down.

"Thank you", Harry says.

 

Then class starts. Snape starts talking, and Ron feels like half his brain melts off from the pure unpleasantness the man radiates.

His brothers warned him, of course, but he still didn't expect this level of sheer unfairness.

He questions Harry, ignores Granger, and nearly makes Neville cry.

Such a git, Ron thinks.

 

In the afternoon, they go visit the groundskeeper Hagrid. He took Harry to Diagon Alley for the first time and got him Hedwig as a present.

He's nice, and he doesn't like Filch and Mrs. Norris either!

They chat about his brothers for a while, until Harry looks up from the newspaper he's been reading and says: "Hagrid! The Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

His birthday?, Ron thinks, squinting at the paper. The 31st of July. He'll remember that.

 

"Oh for -", Ron says, reaching up to touch the slimy thing on his head. "Fred! George!", he yells, "What is that! Put it away!"

The twins' laughter rings through the corridor.

"Have you written Mum yet", Percy asks when Ron runs into the Common room again, not even five minutes after leaving.

"No!" Ron shouts.

"It's already Saturday! Do it now!"

Ron turns to look at him, feeling the slime in his hair slowly run drip onto his back.

Percy raises his head from his essay, and frowns. "After you clean up", he ammends.

 

"Ugh", Ron says in the evening.

Harry turns a page in his potions book, then notes something down on a piece of parchment.

"Hmm", Ron says.

"Oh, it's crushing, of course", Harry mumbles.

"Aaahhh", Ron says.

"What?" Harry asks distractidly.

"I don't know what to write", Ron whines.

"For homework?"

"No", Ron sighs, "to my mum."

"Just tell her about your week", Harry says, "Isn't that what you're supposed to put in letters?"

"Dear Mum", Ron reads out, "My week has been good. I like some of my classes. I don't like potions class. Snape is very rude."

Harry frowns at his potions book. "Tell her you miss her", he says, "She'll like that."

"No!", Ron protests, "I can't put that in there, she'll sic Percy on me!"

"Well, add some details then, something unusual you noticed... Why is it crumble now?"

Ron sighs and groans about his letter, but in the end, he does write it.

 

_Dear Mum, my first week has been good. I like some if my classes, but not potions class. Snape is ~~a git~~ very rude and he nearly made Neville cry._

_The boy we helped get through the barrier is Harry Potter. He's my friend now. Don't be weird to him about the Boy-Who-Lived thing, he said he doesn't remember anything and people being weird about it makes him uncomfortable._

_The twins threw slime at me and put a dungbomb in my shoes. Percy is annoying._

_Love, Ron._

 

Soon after, they hear about flying lessons starting. Harry seems sceptical.

"It's just what I always wanted", he says, "To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

Flying is great though. Harry won't make a fool of himself, Ron's sure. He'll see how great and fun flying is, and then he'll start caring about Quidditch too!

If anyone will make a fool of himself, it's gonna be Malfoy.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself", he says, "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

 

Ron is so excited for flying class! He used to fly back home as often as his parents let him, imagining himself as the Gryffindor Qudditch team captain, or the best keeper the Cannon's ever had, who pulls them back up to the top position in the league. The keeper who secures England's win in the World Cup!

He wishes he could keep thinking about it, or telling the others of the amazing time he had on Charlie's old broom - but Granger isn't shutting up about her new book about flying and Ron can't concentrate on anything while she's talking.

Neville getting a Rememberall is great because it interrupts her.

It's also great because it almost gives them a chance to get into a fight with Malfoy.

"Have a good day, Goyle, Crabbe!" Harry calls after them.

Professor McGonagall shakes her head at him, exasperated.

 

Flying class starts how Ron expected it - they talk about the correct grip, Malfoy did it worse than him, which is great, and then Neville breaks his wrist, which Ron could have reasonably expected, but didn't.

Malfoy steals his Rememberall, and starts goading Harry.

"Come and get it", he yells from his broom.

Harry stares at him, angry. Ron can see his eyes flicker to his broom, back to Malfoys gloating face. He closes his eyes for a moment, then jumps on his broom and flies after him.

Ron watches him soar through the air with amazement, and cheers as he catches the ball just in time to land gracefully.

"Yeah!", he cheers.

"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall screams and Harry's grin disappears.

"Never, in all my time at Hogwarts", she gets out, "How dare you, might have broken your neck -"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor", Pravati says.

"Be quiet, Miss Patil -"

"But Malfoy", Ron interrupts.

"That's enough Mister Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

Malfoy looks smug as Harry trots after her.

Ron is gonna hit him.

The rest of the lesson is tense. Ron flies close to Malfoy, causing him to wobble.

"Are you scared, Weasley?" Malfoy snipes, "What will you do when your only friend gets expelled already?"

"Shut up", Ron snarls, "Or I -"

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley", Madam Hooch interrupts, "Stop talking and focus on the lesson!"

They glare at each other stubbornly and silently for the rest of the lesson.

 

Harry meets up with him at dinner.

"You're joking", Ron says. He has to be. There's no way he'd get on the team for this.

"Seeker? But first years never get on the team! You must be the youngest house player in a hundred years!"

"Yes", Harry says, "Wood told me. I start training next week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

 

After the twins come to congratulate Harry, Ron remembers that he was eating before that revelation was dropped on him. He picks up his fork, lifts a piece of his kidney pie to his mouth -

"Having a last meal, Potter?" Malfoy sneers, "When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"After you", Harry says evenly, "I suppose you can be brave, now that you've got your bodyguards back with you."

"I'd take you on anytime on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Only wands - no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

That little -

"Of course he has", Ron says, "I'm his second, who's yours?"

"Crabbe", Malfoy says after a moments hesistation. "Midnight alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

"Of course", Harry says, "but what will we be dueling for, Malfoy? I suggest that the loser owes the winner a favour." He holds out his hand.

"Alright", Malfoy says and shakes it. When he tries to let go, Harry keeps hold of him.

"Not showing up will count as losing, of course", he says.

"I'm not backing out", Malfoy says.

"Great!"

 

"I can't believe that you're going to do this Harry", Granger says at midnight, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.

"You!" Ron says furiously, "Go back to bed!"

It's none of her business what they're doing! Does she think she's a prefect already?

"I almost told your brother", she says, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

"Shame you didn't, then", Harry says, "Come on, Ron."

Ron follows Harry through the portrait hole, rolling his eyes when Granger does too.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor?" she says, starting into a tirade that sounds remarkably like Percy.

"Go away", he says.

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so...", she says, then realizes the Fat Lady isn't here.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asks shrilly.

"That's your problem", Ron says, "We've got to go, we're gonna be late."

"I'm coming with you", she declares.

"You are not", Ron says.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve -"

"Shut up, both of you!" Harry hisses, "I heard something."

Ron listens, and hears a shuffling sound.

"Mrs. Norris", he breathes, trying to spot her - or anything really - in the darkness.

Instead, the suffling turns into Neville, who jerks awake as they come closer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed", he says.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."

Neville ends up following them too. Ron is going to loose his mind.

They speed up a staircase to the third floor and tip toe into the trophy room.

 

"Finally!", Malfoy snaps, "I almost thought you had gotten scared. Did you bring your whole house as back up?"

"Of course not", Harry says, "Just some people who will enjoy seeing you defeated."

Granger opens her mouth, and Ron steps on her foot to shut her up.

She glares at him as Malfoy snarls: "We'll see about that, Potter!"

"We will", Harry says, smiling. "Neville, do you mind being our referee?"

"Me?" Neville eeps, "Are you sure?"

"Of course", he says lightly, "But if you don't want to, I'm sure Goyle can do it."

"Don't be ridiculous", Malfoy scoffs, "There's no way Longbottom can manage this. It's a wonder he hasn't fainted yet. Goyle will do it."

Neville looks between Malfoy and his goons, swallows visibly, then says: "N-n-no, I - I - I'll do it."

"Great!" Harry says over Malfoy's scoff. Ron scowls at him, even though he's not sure Neville can handle himself either. You have to stick with your Gryffindor housemates against Slytherins, even if it's Neville or Granger.

"D-duelists, take your stances", Neville feeps.

Harry and Malfoy face off. Malfoy sneers, like he always does, while Harry is smiling calmly.

It's almost a bit creepy, if Ron's honest. Harry doesn't seem to be nervous at all, he just seems - distant. It's - It's nothing, Harry's just sure he'll win. And if it seems to go badly, they can always just start a fight.

"Bow to your opponents!"

Malfoy barely moves his head, while Harry nods at him.

"On a count -"

"Just get on with it", Malfoy sneers, "Or do you want Filch to find us?"

"Th- Three", Neville counts, "Two, One!"

"Serpensortia!", Malfoy shouts.

That's not a first year spell, Ron thinks, what's he doing?

Harry doesn't move, but instead starts laughing. Ron looks at the ground between them, and snorts.

"Malfoy, that's just a baby grass snake", Harry says, "Do you really think I'd be scared of that?"

"Shut up!", Malfoy shouts, and Harry opens his mouth and hisses.

The tiny snake turns around and slithers towards Malfoy. He stumbles back falling over his feet and onto the ground, goes even paler and Ron can feel his jaw drop.

"Stop that!", Malfoy screeches, "Stop it! Potter!"

Harry hisses again and the snake stares at the boy sitting on the ground. He walks towards him, and Malfoy starts shivering.

"So", Harry says, bending down and picking something up, "I have your wand. That means I win, doesn't it?"

He looks to Neville. Neville's started shaking too.

"S- S- S- Su- Yes!"

"Make it stop!" Malfoy shouts, "Potter, please! Tell it to back off!"

"What? Calm down", Harry says, "It's not even venomous." He casually picks it up, and pets its head.

"Great, Potter, you won", Malfoy says quickly, "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. Hurry up!"

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asks, "He didn't even take his snake back."

"You speak Parseltounge?" Ron chockes out, still feeling shaken.

"I speak what?" Harry says.

Then a cat meows behind them, and they all flinch.

"Mrs. Norris", Granger whispers, looking slightly green.

Harry quickly leads them away. Ron's head is swirling so much, he doesn't notice Neville stumbling, until they both crash into a suit of armour.

"Run!" Harry yells, and they do.

 

When they've lost Filch, Ron interrupts Granger's tirade on breaking the rules. "We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower, quickly as possible."

But hopefully they used up their bad luck for the night already, Ron thinks, so it could go smoothly now.

That is, if course, when Peeves finds them.

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please", Granger pleads.

"Should tell Filch, I should," Peeves says in a saintly voice, his eyes glittering wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way", Ron snaps. They don't have time for this! He swings, trying to scare him away -

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED", Peeves bellows, and then they run again.

 

"This is it", Ron laments, as they shake uselessly at the door at the end of the corridor, "We're done for! This is the end!"

Not even Fred and George managed to get into this much trouble this quickly. Mum's gonna kill me, Ron thinks, if Filch doesn't now.

"Oh move over", Granger snarls, shoving him out of the way and pointing her wand at the door. "Alohomora!"

The lock clicks and the door swings open. The squeeze into the room as fast as they can, then shut the door again.

Ron is just about to exhale, when he notices the giant three headed dog staring at them.

He freezes.

He can vaguely hear Peeves and Filch argue, Harry whisper something - what can we do, Ron thinks, can we beat it?

Harry pulls him out of the door into the charms corridor.

 

They run all the way back to Gryffindor tower.

 

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron says when he's caught his breath. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Charlie would love it, no doubt.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" Granger snaps. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry suggests, "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

She stands up, glares at them and says: "I hope you're pleased with yourselves, especially you, Harry. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

What's wrong with her? They nearly died, and she's more worried about being expelled?

"No, we don't mind," he says. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you. But really Harry, Parseltounge?"

Because, giant dogs are all good and well, but that was the biggest shock of the day.

"I don't know what you're talking about", Harry says, "Is it really that important right now?"

"Yes, it is", Neville says quietly, surprising Ron, who had nearly forgotten about him.

"You really don't know?"

"No", Harry says vehemently, "What's there to know about?"

"You can talk to snakes", Ron says.

"Yes, I know that", Harry says, "That's called parseltounge?"

"Yeah, and it's - well, it's what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. If people hear about this they're gonna assume you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something."

"It's seen as the mark of a dark wizard", Neville says softly.

"Oh", Harry says and pales.

 

Harry's quiet the next morning, until Ron can't take it anymore and distracts him by wondering about the thing the dog is guarding.

Harry tells him about a mysterious small package that Hagrid got out off Gringotts on the day of the break in on Dumbledore's orders.

"It's either very valuable or very dangerous", Ron says.

"Or both", Harry says and smiles gratefully.

Granger is mad at them for breaking the rules, and Neville seems nervous.

Of course, he always seems nervous, but he's worse today. Which is ridiculous, because Harry's still Harry, he's not suddenly a dark wizard.

Even if he's related to Slytherin, who cares? It's been a thousand years, who can proof they aren't related to Slytherin at all?

And other people must have been Parselmouths too, except they weren't evil and famous, so no one knows about them.

Even though it's bloody weird that Harry can talk to snakes. And kept the one Malfoy summoned.

At least Harry can tell it not to eat Scabbers, Ron thinks, and offers the snake a piece of sausage.

 

Then, Harry gets send a broom. A Nimbus 2000! As a first year! How amazing is that? Ron is so jealous.

 

Lessons seem to drag on forever that day. He wants to put his hands all over that broom! At least Malfoy isn't bothering them today.

When classes are over, they choke down their food and sprint up to Gryffindor tower as fast as they can.

"Wow", Ron sighs when Harry finishes unpacking the broom.

It's so sleek! Much lighter than the newest Comet and the twigs are all perfectly straight! And that's only talking about optics! The speed and acceleration are -

"Ron?", Harry asks quietly, interrupting Ron's rant.

"Yeah?"

"What if", he starts, then stops. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is! This is a great broom!"

"No, I mean - me joining the team", Harry says, avoiding Ron's look.

"I - why wouldn't it be? I saw you fly, it was really good, and McGonagal thought so too, obviously."

"But I was, before I got in the air, I was so scared", Harry admits.

"Really?" Ron is surprised, he can't remember being scared of flying, ever. And Harry was so good at it!

"Well, it doesn't matter. You still did it, and you're so good that you're not gonna fall or anything."

"I guess", Harry says.

Ron looks after him as he leaves. He worridly pets the little snake that they named Maeve, after Queen Maeve. They saw her on a chocolate frog card.

 

When Harry comes back with a big grin, he pats him on the back and lets him tell him all the details about the training.

 

"Potter", Malfoy says uncomfortably.

"Yes?", Harry says, raising his eyebrows.

"Can I talk to you", he says flatly.

"You are", Harry says kindly.

"Alone", Malfoy snaps.

Ron shrugs when Harry looks at him. He can defend himself if Malfoy plans anything.

"Alright", Harry says, leaving Ron alone in the corridor with Crabbe and Goyle.

They stare at each other awkwardly, neither willing to make a move.

As the minutes strech on, Ron gets the urge to fidget. This is almost worse than the time the twins charmed every hair of his to sing a different song, and that was truely horrible.

"So", he says slowly, remembering how Harry perplexed them on their first meeting.

"What's you guys' favorite quidditch teams? Mine's the Cannons."

"Tornados", Crabbe grunts.

"Harpies", Goyle grunts quieter.

"Oh really?" Ron says, "My sister loves the Harpies too - What do you think about Jones? Ginny thinks she's hung the stars."

"She's the best player on the team", Goyle says, "I hope she'll be on the national team next World Cup."

"Maybe", Ron says.

"The Cannons suck", Crabbe says, "Why're you a fan of them."

"They do not suck!" Ron gasps, "They're gonna win the next league, I swear! It'll be the comeback of the century!"

"No they won't", Goyle argues, "They have a bad seeker and their chasers have no teamwork."

"Don't you dare say that -"

"Is there a problem here?" Professor Flitwick interrupts.

"Uh, no Professor", Ron says as the others shake their heads, "We were just talking about Quidditch."

"Quidditch? Well, that's always an emtional topic. Don't let your friendly chat escalate, boys!"

 

Harry and Malfoy return soon after Flitwick leaves with a friendly wave.

Malfoys cheeks are a plotchy pink, and he hisses at Crabbe and Goyle to follow him.

"Goodbye", Harry calls after them.

"And?" Ron asks immediatly, "What did he want?"

Harry smiles as they start walking to the great hall for breakfast again.

"He apogized for saying my mother shouldn't have been allowed into the wizarding world", Harry says, "and I agreed to meet up with him to study sometimes."

"Really?" Ron groans, "Do we have to?"

"Well", Harry says, "I mean I did kind of promise to be nice to him if he apologizes, so I have to try. You don't have to come."

"Like hell am I letting my best mate meet up with Draco Malfoy alone."

"Thank you, Ron."

 

"Oh no", Ron groans under his breath. Why does he have to work with Granger? Harry gets to work with Seamus.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaks.

"Wingardium Leviosa", Ron tries. Nothing happens, which is better than Seamus, who sets his feather on fire.

Maybe working with Granger isn't that bad.

"You're saying it wrong", she snaps, "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

Yes, it is that bad, why did he have to think that?

"You do it, then, if you're that clever", Ron snarls.

And of course she does it perfectly on her first try, the bloody teachers pet that she is.

 

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he says to Harry as they push their way into the crowded corridor after class, "she's a nightmare, honestly. "

"I think she heard that", Harry says, looking after her crying figure.

"So?" Ron says, because this isn't his fault, she doesn't have to be such a know-it all and he didn't mean for her to hear that anyway. "She must've noticed no one can stand her."

 

When they don't see her in the next class, Ron presses his lips together and thinks, It's not my fault she doesn't have friends, not even her roommates get along with her, we barely even talk, it doesn't matter.

"She's locked herself into a bathroom stall", Pravati tells Lavender, "I tried to talk to her, but she just shouted at me to leave her alone."

"She'll get over it", Lavender says dismissivly.

Yes, Ron thinks, that's right, she'll get over it. He'll enjoy the feast and tomorrow, Hermione will feel better and no one will think about it anymore.

 

Just when Ron's really getting in the mood, Professor Quirrell comes sprinting into the hall and shouts: "Troll! In the dungeons - thought you ought to know."

Then he passes out, and Ron screams.

 

It's only as they follow Percy out of the hall that Ron remembers Hermione.

He looks at Harry, who's eyes widen and who says: "She doesn't know about the troll."

They seperate from the group, ducking behind a group of Hufflepuffs.

As they move towards the bathroom, the hear fast footsteps behind them.

Oh Merlin, Percy's seen them and he's coming to kill them.

Ron grabs Harry's arm and they hide, but instead of Percy inacting their mother's wrath, it's Snape.

"What's he doing here?" Harry hisses, "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the other teachers?"

"Search me", Ron says.

Harry looks after him with a suspicious expression.

They quietly creep after him. Ron sniffs, then stops.

"He's heading for the third floor", Harry murmers.

"Can you smell something?" Ron asks.

Then they hear a low grunting, and Ron's head swivels around. The troll's standing standing at the end of a passage to the left. Ron surpresses a scream and grabs Harry's arm to show it to him.

They stare in horror as it slowly shuffles into a room.

"The keys in the lock", Harry mutters, "We could lock it in..." He looks in the direction Snape went, then pulls Maeve from his pockets and hisses at her.

She slithers from his hands and after Snape.

"Bloody weird", Ron says, "Let's shut the door."

They edge towards the open door, and slam it shut - "Yes!" Ron shouts as Harry locks it, and then they freeze as a high pitched scream rings out of the door.

"Oh no", Ron whispers.

"That's the girls bathroom!", Harry realizes and wretches the door open again.

"Hermione!" Ron yells.

She's standing against the wall, looking as if she's about to faint. The troll's advancing on her, knocking sinks off the wall. At Ron's scream, it turns around, looking for the noise.

"Confuse it!" Harry yells, darting to the side and grabbing a tab to throw at it. The troll takes a tumbling step towards him, dragging his club over the ground.

Ron spots a pipe, shouts: "Oi, pea brain!" and hits the troll on the shoulder.

"Come on, come on, run!" Harry yells at Hermione, who's frozen with terror and doesn't move.

The troll howls, takes a step towards Ron, and Ron's eyes go wide, his mind blanc -

"No!" Harry shouts, waving his wand at the troll and it freezes with its club half raised.

Ron pulls out his own wand too, shouts: "Wingardium Leviosa!" and hits the troll in the head with its own club.

As the troll falls, Ron realizes that he just cast that spell correctly for the first time on a big, heavy wooden club while facing a troll.

"Is - Is it dead?" Hermione asks.

"No", Harry says, "I think it's just knocked out."

They slowly get up, giving the troll a wide berth, when suddenly, footsteps echo through the corridor and Professor McGonagal bursts into the room, followed by Snape and Quirrell.

 

Snape bends over the troll, and Professor McGonagal looks at them, angrier than Ron's ever seen. Not even his mum looked that angry, not even when Fred and George set fire to the Burrow.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" She asks with cold fury in her voice, "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gives Harry a suspicious look, and Ron realizes he's forgotten to lower his wand.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me", Hermione speaks up softly.

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron drops his wand and his jaw. Hermione Granger, number one teacher's pet, telling a teacher a downright lie?

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry froze it and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Ron forces his mouth closed.

"Well - in that case..." Professor McGonagall says, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hangs her head, and Ron is honestly expecting her to grow a second pair of ears. She's acting so strange, it would just fit the bill.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," Professor McGonagall says. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione leaves and Professor McGonagall turns to the boys.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurry out of the bathroom, picking Maeve up when they're out of sight and don't speak until they've climbed up two floors.

"We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbles.

"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admits. "Mind you, we did save her."

 

In the common room, Hermione's waiting for them. There's an awkward pause, then they all say: "Thanks", without looking at each other and hurry away to eat.

 

But Hermione is their friend now, Ron knows. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

 

"Is that the snake Malfoy summoned?"

"Oh, yes, that's Maeve, we didn't know what to do with her so we just kind of kept her."

"She says hi", Harry adds.

"Oh, well, tell her hello back", Hermione says, looking at the snake suspiciously. "Do you know what kind of snake she is?"

"A grass snake, or something", Ron explains, "We didn't really look into it."

"Well, I will", Hermione says, "Don't you want to know?"

Harry shrugs. Hermione sighs.

"That reminds me!" She perks up suddenly, "I looked into famous Parselmouths, after your duel with Malfoy", she says with potant disdain, and Ron rolls his eyes, "And while Slytherin was the only named one, I did find references to others, though most of that was speculation and rumors, sometimes by their enemies, you know, to discredit them -"

"Hermione", Ron interrupts, "Is this really relevant?"

"Well of course", Hermione says, then hesitates. "Is it?"

Ron and Harry share a look, before Ron pulls a grape from his bag and offers it to Scabbers, who still doesn't want to come too close to Maeve.

"It is relevant!" Hermione declares, "And I was getting to the point. Anyways, there were at least three confirmed Parselmouths in India that I could find referenced, but they weren't named in that book, and there was a powerful healer in Ancient Rom who had a snake as an familiar, so if you read between the lines it's clear that he was a Parselmouth. He was worshipped as a god after his death, actually, and I found an author with some very interesting theories about Moses being a Parselmouth. So it's really not a sign of you being evil, or related to Slytherin at all, because I honestly doubt all these people were part of his family."

"And?" Ron asks, "We figured that out ourselves, too."

"Well, I was just trying to be helpful", Hermione says defensivly.

"You were", Harry says, "If someone tries to call me evil, I have a rebuttal now, one that's not just 'my friends say I'm not'."

"Oh", Ron says, "I guess that's true. Thanks Hermione."

She looks unbearably smug.

 

"Hermione?" Ron says uncertainly, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, what's wrong?"

"I just wanted to - well", he looks around uncomfortably, "apologize for calling you a nightmare that no one can stand. That was mean and I don't really think that."

"Oh! Oh, you didn't have to, it's fine", Hermione blushes, "You're not the first to say it..."

"Doesn't make it better, does it?"

"No, well, thank you!"

 

"Why", Harry says, resting his head on the table.

"Oh honestly", Hermione says, "It's not that hard."

"Not really", Harry agrees, "but I always feel ill in class."

"Really? I never had that problem, but I suppose it is very stuffy in there - Don't copy my homework, Ron!"

"I just wanted to see if mine was right!" Ron defends himself.

"Sure", Hermione says, "Harry are you really this depressed about Defense homework? You're not usually this much of a slouch, unlike Ron."

Ron rolls his eyes at her. "His first Quidditch match is Saturday, remember?"

"Oh! Are you nervous?"

"I guess", Harry says after a pause.

"You guess? Shouldn't you know if you're nervous or not?"

"No, it's just..." he trails off, looking at Ron, who stares back dumbly before remembering.

"Oh that", he says, considering for a moment how blatantly terrified Hermione was before their first flying lesson. "Hey, I bet she looked up a spell for that."

"A spell? For what?"

"Falling off of your broom", Harry says.

"Sure!" Hermione says, "I read about some of them, and I found one that's perfect for this kind of situation, but it's not even taught to seventh years unless they show outstanding talent in charms, so I wasn't going to rely on that. The I looked into casting a shield charm around yourself in the air so that -", she breathes in and continues in a rush, " - so that the impact to the ground gets absorbed by that, but it turns out that Protego wouldn't actually do all that much because it would just stop your momentum a few metres higher so in the end I decided to use a knock-back jinx on myself repeatedly, until I wasn't that fast anymore."

"What?" Ron says blankly, "I stopped listening after you said 'read'."

"Oh, honestly", Hermione says.

"Can you teach me to cast that?" Harry asks.

"Of course", she says, "It's not that hard."

 

"So what was Snape doing on the third floor?" Ron suddenly remembers.

"What?"

"Oh, right", Harry says and starts hissing.

"On Halloween, when we went looking for you", Ron explains, "We saw Snape sneaking away to the third floor. We wanted to follow him, but then we saw the troll, so Harry just sent Maeve after him."

"He did go to the forbidden corridor", Harry reports, "Maeve didn't follow him in, but he came out together with Quirrell and he was bleeding."

"With Quirrell?"

"Apparently", Harry says, blinking, "I bet Snape wanted to steal whatever the dog's guarding - maybe he let the troll in too! I just don't know what Quirrell has to do with it, maybe he's in on it too?"

"No", Hermione says, eyes wide, "they wouldn't. I know Professor Snape's not very nice, but he wouldn't try to steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something", Ron says. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. Maybe he threatened Quirrell? But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

"I don't know", Harry says, "But it has to be the packet from Gringotts..."

"The what?" Hermione asks.

Ron and Harry share a look, then fill her in.

 

"You've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast", Hermione wheedles.

"I'm not hungry."

"Harry, you need your strength", Seamus says, "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

Ron rolls his eyes. That's sure to make Harry feel better. He gives Hermione a comiserating look.

She starts rattling off facts from "Quidditch throughout the ages" until Harry stops looking quite so gloomy.

 

While Harry's busy feeling nervous, Ron is so excited. The first Quidditch match he'll see at Hogwarts.

He wants to see Slytherin crushed so badly, he wants them to loose 500 - 0, or maybe something exciting like the World Cup of 1768, where Portugal was behind Switzerland by 250 points for the whole game - which took 3 days! - until they scored three goals in quick succession, right before their seeker caught the snitch.

He could be on the team this time next year, he dreams, scoring the important goals, protecting against the Slytherins attacks... The wind in his hair while the crowds cheer on him.

But, for now, he'll settle for cheering on Harry. He hopes his friend will like the banner they made for him.

 

Ron holds his breath when the teams walk onto the pitch. Harry doesn't look nervous from up here, he judges, and he gets on his broom and off the ground without hesistation.

Then Ron forgets to think about Harry's nerves for a while, because the game picks up and it's amazing.

 

Hagrid joins them sometime after Gryffindor's first goal, Ron can't quite remember.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbles, staring through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom... but he can't have...."

They stare in horror as Harry spins more and more wildy.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispers.

"Can't have," Hagrid says in a shaking voice. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic - no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

Did Harry loose control of it? But he's such a good flier, did his nerves get him that badly? That's impossible, Ron thinks as Hermione grabs Hagrid's binoculars and looks over the crowd with them.

"What are you doing?" Ron asks, feeling sick with horror.

"I knew it!" Hermione gasps, "Snape - look."

Ron grabs the binoculars, and sees Snape muttering something with his eyes fixed on Harry.

"He's doing something - jinxing the broom", Hermione says.

"What should we do?"

"Leave it to me."

Before Ron can say another word, Hermione takes off and disappears in the crowd. Deciding that she can handle herself, he turns the binoculars back to Harry and nearly curses.

Harry's broom is vibrating so hard, it seems like he can barely hold on to it anymore. Fred and George try to grab him, pull him to safety, but the broom steers away from them, rises higher and higher -

"Come on, Hermione", Ron mutters desperatly.

Fix this, he thinks, or Harry's gonna have to try your jinx-method.

Just when he thinks Harry's gonna finally fall, the broom stops, and Harry clambers back onto it and starts flying to the ground.

Ron could cry from relief. "You can look, Neville", he says to the sobbing boy next to him.

Then, suddenly, Harry accelerates and Ron thinks, oh no, he's gonna crash - and Harry claps his hands to his mouth, lands safely and chokes out the snitch.

Ron stares silently for a moment as Harry waves it around, before realizing: "We won! He did it, he did it, he did it, we won!"

 

"It was Snape", Ron explains later, when they are sitting around Hagrid's table, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"He and Quirrell", Hermione adds, "They were both doing it."

"Rubbish", Hagrid says, "Why would they do that?"

Ron, Harry and Hermione look at each other, and Ron decides to let Harry take the lead.

"We found out something about them," he tells Hagrid. "They tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit Snape. We think they were trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid drops his teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?"

 

They walk away with a name to look into and Ron shaking his head, mouthing "Fluffy" to himself. Who names a giant three-headed dog "Fluffy"?

Well, Hagrid does. Charlie would do the same, now that he thinks about it, and Ginny too, probably. No, she defintivly would, she calls the ghoul "Mr. Sparkles".

 

"Can I go first", Ron asks, gazing longingly at Harry's broom.

"Sure", Harry says with a grin, pulling it out of the broom closet, "I'll use the time to convince myself it's not permanently cursed."

"That can't happen", Ron says, rolling his eyes.

"Well if it isn't ickle Ronnikins and little Harry!"

"What's our dastardly seeker doing with our littlest brother?"

Fred and George pop up behind them.

"Together in a broom closet already! Forge, I think they're worse than us at that age!"

"So young, yet so corrupted!"

"What are you talking about?" Ron snaps, "We're not in the broom closet -"

The twins shove them backwards. Ron stumbles, and the door slams shut.

"Hey!" he yells, banging on the door. "Let us out! Fred! George! I'll tell mum!"

Laughter and retreating footsteps is their only answer.

"I don't getting out is our biggest problem", Harry says with a grimace.

Ron looks at him, and then touches his own hair.

"I'm gonna kill them", he swears. "I'm gonna take their wands and throw them in the lake, those gits!"

"What was that spell Hermione used on the third floor corridor again?" Harry asks, waving his wand at the door. "Aloho - oh, alright."

The door swings open before he finishes the spell.

"Let's go have fun flying anyways, and see if Hermione can do anything about this later."

 

It takes Harry longer than before to climb back on his broom, but in the end, he does and they have great fun.

When they come back into the common room, their faces are red and they're still laughing.

 

"Oh hi", Hermione says as they throw themselves into some chairs next to her. "Why is your hair green?"

 

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asks, sticking his head through the branches of the giant tree Hagrid is carrying when they come up from potions.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron. Wan' to come with me an' see the Great Hall? It looks a treat."

"Sure", Harry says, "But we have to go to the library soon."

"The library?" Hagrid asks, leading them into the hall, "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Harry promised Malfoy that they would study together sometime", Ron says, "So we're doing that now."

"And we're also looking into Nicholas Flamel, of course", Harry says brightly.

"You what?" Hagrid looks shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh - drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all", Hermione says.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry adds. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin", Hagrid says flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then", Ron says, and they leave Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurry off to the library.

 

"Potter", Malfoy greets.

"Goyle, Crabbe, hello", Harry responds.

Malfoy sighs. "Weasley, Granger. How do you do."

"Hello, Malfoy", Harry says.

"Hi", Ron says, nodding to the Slytherins.

"Have you started on your homework already?" Hermione asks.

"No", Malfoy says after a short pause.

"Alright, we'll start with charms then", Hermione declares.

They don't get all that much done, in the end. Malfoy is cordially polite throughout their meeting, but Ron knows he doesn't mean it and he's just waiting for him to drop the pretense. He's ready for it.

"No, a swish, not a flick", Hermione corrects Goyle for the third time.

"I don't have to listen to you", he sneers, "Mudblood."

Ron flings himself over the table and swings a fist right at his face.

"Ron!" Hermione yells, shocked.

Harry springs up, his flat hand hitting the table. With an omnious crack, the whole tabletop splinters.

They all stare at him. Goyle doesn't even follow through on the punch he was preparing.

"I expect you to be polite to my friends", Harry hisses, sounding halfway to parseltounge. Maeve raises her head from his poket and hisses softly.

"He didn't mean it", Malfoy says quickly, "Right, Goyle? He's just an idiot."

"He can think about his actions over the holidays", Harry says.

Then Madam Pince is upon them. "Out!" She commands.

 

"We shouldn't have let them get away with this so easily", Ron snarls.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asks, "I could tell it was rude, of course, but -"

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of", Ron explains, wishing he had broken Goyle's nose, "Mudblood’s a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born — you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards — like Malfoy’s family and their friends— who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood. I mean, the rest of us know it doesn’t make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom — he’s pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up.”

"Oh", Harry says, sounding disappointed.

“It’s a disgusting thing to call someone" Ron continues, “Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It’s ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn’t married Muggles we’d’ve died out.”

"That's not right", Hermione says furiously.

 

"You could have woken me up", Ron says, crossly.

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mom and dad", Ron says eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."

"You can see them any old time", Ron says, "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"

Harry just shakes his head, poking at his food unenthusiastically.

"Are you all right?" Ron asks. "You look odd."

 

Harry seems absent minded for the rest of the day. Even though it's the day after Christmas, and the holidays.

Ron's worried.

 

That night, when Harry drags him to this fabled mirror, he looks into it, expecting his family and sees - he gasps.

This is - the future, it's what he's going to be one day. Him, being extraordinary, for once, instead of always one step behind his brothers, he's gonna be the best and everyone will know, and they'll look at him and -

"Can you see all your family standing around you?" Harry asks impatiently, so Ron tells him what he does see -

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

And Harry blabs about his family and death, and wants to have the mirror for himself again, even though he had it the night before, where he didn't even bother to wake Ron up, and what does his family matter, can't he get pictures? That's what you get for being famous, Ron thinks, always needs to be in the spotlight, the arrogant prick -

Mrs. Norris interrupts them before it can escalate further.

 

They sneak back to bed in silence, and it takes Ron what seems like an eternity to realize that he's not mad at Harry.

He wasn't mad when Harry told him about his adventure at breakfast, a bit peeved but not this much. He's not angry about Harry's fame, either, he knows it's not Harry's fault and that Harry is incredibly uncomfortable with it - he's just a bit jealous, he knows that.

There's something wrong with that mirror.

 

When Harry continues to be strange and listless the next day, Ron becomes certain that he is right. There's something wrong with the mirror and it's infected Harry.

"Want to play chess, Harry?" Ron asks.

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"

"No... you go..."

"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight."

"Why not?"

"I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it - and anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

Maybe that's not such a bad thing, if it prevents you from getting worse, Ron thinks.

"I'm serious, Harry, don't go."

 

The next morning, a tired and exhausted Harry tells him about his meeting with Dumbledore at the mirror, and Ron nods.

"You won't go looking for it again?"

"No, I promised - and Dumbledore's moving the mirror anyways."

"Good", Ron says.

 

A few days later, Harry complains about his nightmares.

"I never slept well - woke up in the middle of the night, had nightmares, stuff like that, but it's gotten so much worse now."

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad", Ron says.

 

He stays awake that night, listening to Harry fall asleep and sure enough, he starts trashing before it's even midnight.

Ron rolls out of bed, pats over to Harry's bed and shakes him.

Then he screams as Harry shoves his wand in his face and stares at him with a wild look.

"Harry!" Ron says, "Mate, calm down, it's me!"

Harry blinks, then says, rough: "Ron?"

"Yeah, you were having a nightmare, so I wanted to wake you up."

"Oh", Harry says, "Thank you, I guess."

They lay down again. After a while, Ron says quietly: "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You know... This may sound weird, but, well, when I have a bad dream at home, I always go sleep with my parents or Charlie, when he was still living at home. So if you want, and don't take this the wrong way, but if you want, you can come over and we can share. When you have a bad dream."

"Thank you", Harry says after a long pause, voice wavering in a way that Ron's not gonna interpret as him crying.

He falls asleep with his cheeks burning.

 

Two days after school starts again, he wakes up with Harry next to him, sleeping peacefully and thinks, that was totally worth it.

 

"Don't talk to me for a moment", Ron says when Harry bursts into the common room after Quidditch training and sits down next to him. He is beating Hermione at chess, but she just made a really strong move, and he needs to think about the best solution. "I need to concen -" He looks up and sees Harry looking like his birthday just got cancelled. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."

Whispering, Harry tells them that Snape will referee their next Quidditch match.

"Don't play", Hermione says at once.

"Say you're ill", Ron says.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggests.

"Really break your leg", Ron says.

"I can't", Harry says, "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

Hermione opens her mouth, ready to let out a tirade, when the portrait hole opens and Neville stumbles through, falling on his face.

Laughter rings through the room as she springs up, undoes the spell binding his legs together and leads him to sith with Ron and Harry.

"What happened?" she asks.

"Malfoy", Neville explains shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urges him. "Report him!"

Neville shakes his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbles.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" Ron says. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville chokes out.

Harry hands him a chocolate frog he kept im his pocket, and says: "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville's lips twitch into a weak smile as he unwraps the frog.

"Thank you", he says hesistantly, "Do you want the card? I know you collect them." He hesitates again, then says very quietly: "Ron, Hermione, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Uh, sure", Ron says and they follow Neville to their dormitory, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing", Neville says unconvincingly, "It's just - aren't you worried?"

"Worried?" Ron repeats, "About what, Malfoy? The dog?"

"No", Neville says, "It's - it doesn't matter, forget about it."

"No, tell us", Hermione says, "Did something happen?"

Neville quivers visibly, then says: "Aren't you worried about Harry?"

"Huh?" Ron says intelligently.

"Why, did you notice something?" Hermione demands, "Is it the nightmares? Ron said they got worse over the holidays, but -"

"No!" Neville shouts, "About the parseltounge!"

"Oh, that", Ron says, "not really, no."

"At first, a bit", Hermione admits, "But not anymore, no. It's just Harry, after all."

"But Parseltounge is dark magic", Neville insists, "My grandma says there's rumours that, that You-Know-Who was one, you know."

"Really?" Hermione says, "I didn't read anything about that."

"Doesn't matter either way", Ron says, clenching his damp hands together, "Slytherin and You-Know-Who weren't the only Parselmouths, and they were never gonna be the last. People say Moses was one, too, and some old Roman healer who got worshipped as a god. It's just magic, that some people can do, like metamorphmages or something like that."

Hermione looks at him strangly, and Neville seems really glad.

They walk back to the common room, to find Harry resting his forehead on the table and muttering to himself.

"Woah", Ron says, "What's wrong with you now?"

"I found Flamel", Harry says, holding up the chocolate frog card Neville gave him.

 

"So it is Snape", Harry says after a succsessful Quidditch match, that somehow lead to him spying on Snape and Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, "And he's trying to get Quirrell to help him, though I still have a bad feeling about that guy -"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione says in alarm.

"It'll be gone next Tuesday", Ron concludes.

 

"Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapps, "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminds her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me...."

Harry looks like someone threw the dirty contents of a chicken pen over him, a look Ron knows from the mirror and living with the twins.

"No, we should study", he says listlessly, "It will help us get further in life."

Ron tears open his eyes theatrically. "You'd betray me like that?"

Harry nods at him gravely, expression serious as if going to a funeral.

"Exactly, Harry, it's important!" Hermione says, who had been stunned into a shocked pause for about three seconds by Harry actually agreeing with her.

 

"I'll never remember this", Ron moans one day in the library. He looks around at Harry and Hermione working diligently, though with differing levels of enthusiam and sighs. He lets his eyes sway arou d the library, towards the windows, to the beautiful, beautiful day outside, until he spots - "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

"Jus' lookin'," he says, in a shifty voice that gets their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looks suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago", Ron says impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosophers St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looks around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact", Harry says, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid says again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -"

"See you later, then", Harry says.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione asks thoughtfully.

 

A dragon. Of course Hagrid has a dragon egg. What else should it be? As if they don't have enough to worry about already.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighs.

But seeing a dragon hatch is incredibly cool, even if Hagrid lives in a wooden hut.

 

"Malfoy!" Harry calls out, "I need to talk to you for a moment."

"Yes, Potter?" Malfoy sneers, but let's Harry pull him into an empty room.

"You see, Malfoy, we're a bit worried", Harry starts, "that you might have seen something, that regards a close friend of mine."

"Something that might get him into trouble, if it came out", Hermione adds.

"And, you know, I value this friend of mine so much, I would be quite upset, you understand, even inconsolably upset if someone were to hear about this thing that you might have seen."

"So don't tell anyone, or you'll regret it", Ron says, wondering when his group of friends turned into a gang.

"Is this you calling in the favour I owe you", Malfoy says mullishly.

"Oh no", Harry says, patting him on the shoulder, "This is just me, asking someone who wants to be my friend to show a bit of kindness and not hurt my very good friends."

Malfoy hesitates, then says: "Sure, Potter."

 

"Is he gonna do it?" Hermione asks.

"I don't know", Harry shrugs. "We'll see."

"We have to convince Hagrid to get rid of it", Ron says.

 

_Dear Charlie,_

_Hypothetically, if someone - not me! - were to hatch an illegal dragon, for example a Norwegian Ridgeback, at Hogwarts, would you be able to come get it without getting into trouble with the law?_

_Love, Ron_

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

 

So they have a neat plan and even Hagrid agrees, and then Ron goes and gets himself bitten by the poisonous bloody dragon.

 

"I want to lend a book of his", Malfoys voice drifts towards him, and Ron only thinks, sure, he'd do that now.

"Alright, but only five minutes", Madam Pomfrey says sternly.

"Of course", Malfoy says.

 

"Weasley", he greets.

"Go away", Ron responds.

"So rude of you, Weasley", Malfoy laments, "And here I was, thinking I'd come by to see how you're doing after getting bitten by that half-breed's little pet -"

"Don't call him that!" Ron barks.

"I will call him however I like", Malfoy sneers, "Just like I'll say anything I want about your family, no matter what Potter says. If it weren't for you blood-traitor and that mudblood, he'd be a proper wizard by now, not corrupted like you and your whole muggle-loving brood -"

"Harry would never be like you, Malfoy", Ron yells, "He's better than that and you'll -"

"What are you doing?" Madam Pomfrey interupts, "Mr. Malfoy, if you are disturbing my patients, I need to ask you to leave."

"Sure", Malfoy grits out, picking up a random book from Ron's bedside table and stalking out with his nose in the air.

 

Harry and Hermione decide to go through with the plan regardless of what Malfoy knows, and Ron lays awake in the hospital wing, desperatly wishing he could be with them, could help them.

Eventually, he falls asleep and wakes up the next morning with a grieved looking Percy standing next to his bed.

 

"Percy?" Ron asks.

"I'm not going to ask what exactly you and your friends were planning on doing last night", he says, "I don't want to know. Whatever it was, they got caught and punished for it, and I just know your injury had something to do with it."

They got caught? Oh oh.

"What do you want then, Percy?" he snaps.

"You're being discharged today", Percy sniffs, "I just wanted to accompany you to breakfast."

"Oh", Ron says quietly.

 

"A hundred and fifty points", he whispers under his breath when they walk by the giant hourglasses.

That's a lot, like a whole lot. They're in last place now.

Whatever, Ron decides, they'll get out of there too.

 

And the others will get over it eventually, just like he told Harry - they're not the first ones to loose that many points. The twins loose house points all the time, it's fine.

 

"I just heard -" Harry says, sinking down at the library table they were working at, "Oh ouch", he interrupts himself, kneeding his forehead.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard Quirrell, being threatened by Snape I think, and I suddenly got a really bad headache while listening to them. I think Quirrell's giving in, but - ah, there's still something wrong with him, but they're not working together."

"Snape's done it, then!" Ron says. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"

"There's still Fluffy, though", Hermione says.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," Ron says, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"

This could be exciting, Ron thinks, dreaming of glory.

"Go to Dumbledore", Hermione says, "That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"But we've got no proof!" Harry says. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up - or he doesn't want too. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor - who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Hermione looks convinced, but just because they have no proof doesn't mean they can't do anything.

"If we just do a bit of poking around -"

"No", Harry says flatly, "we've done enough poking around."

"Can you at least send Maeve -"

"No, Ron", Harry says again, "Please drop it."

 

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich...." Harry whispers, walking up and down in front of the fireplace, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Stop saying the name", Ron says, terrified. You-Know-Who is supposed to be dead, not - not in the Forbidden Forest, killing bloody unicorns for their blood!

"Wait, if that was Voldemort..." Harry stares at the window, hand still at his head, "I got the same headache like when I heard Quirrell being threatened... What if he was in the castle?"

Hermione sucks in a breath. "You mean You-Know-Who was threatening him, not Snape?"

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so.... Bane was furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen.... They must show that Voldemort's coming back.... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me.... I suppose that's written in the stars as well", Harry continues, ignoring them both.

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hisses. You're not supposed to do that, especially if You-Know-Who might still be around!

"So all I've got to wait for now is for them to steal the Stone," Harry goes on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you", Hermione says reasonably, "Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

 

Ron doesn't sleep at all this night. It was dawn before they even went to bed, but he doesn't even attempt to fall asleep. He stares at the ceiling and sees a clock, standing in their living room, with his families faces and names on the clock hand's, and thinks of them pointing to "mortal peril", instead of "at home", "at work", "at school".

He turns to his side with burning eyes, and sees Harry hugging himself very tightly.

"Harry?" he whispers, and Harry's head whips around, his eyes wide.

"I don't -" Harry says, "I don't want to -"

"Yeah", Ron agrees, "Me neither."

 

What's the point of even taking exams, Ron wonders, if You-Know-Who is still around?

His mum wouldn't let that defense count for anything though, so he sits them and tries not to worry himself sick.

 

Harry isn't doing well. He sleeps in Ron's bed every night now, and has a constant headache.

 

After the Defense against the Dark arts exam, he sways when getting up, and Ron takes three big steps and grabs his hand to support him.

Hermione comes up on his other side, chattering about the exam, and they frogmarch Harry out of the classroom.

"I'm fine", Harry hisses suddenly, jerking in their grip.

"That's alright, mate", Ron says, not letting go.

"We're your friends, Harry", Hermione says, "We want to help you."

Harry looks between them with a strange, surprised expression. "Thanks", he mutters.

 

When the exams are done, they relax under a tree near the lake. It feels so good to be done with them, Ron doesn't want to worry about You-Know-Who anymore.

Of course, that's when Harry starts talking about him again.

"I just wish I knew what this meant!" he burtsts out, "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggests.

"I'm not ill", Harry says. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming...."

Ron can't get worked up, it's too hot right now.

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

 

Ron would like to eat his words when Harry gets Hagrid to admit he did tell someone how to get past Fluffy. Why does this always happen to him?

Everything goes wrong, but at least they have Maeve following Snape and Quirrell around, so it's not all bad. Optimistic thinking. There's not really anything they can do, Ron thinks.

 

"SO WHAT" Harry shouts. "Don't you understand? If Snape and Quirrell get hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

Ron is shocked. He's never seen Harry so angry before.

"You're right Harry", Hermione says in a small voice.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak", Harry says, back to a normal volume. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"But will it cover all three of us?" Ron asks.

"All - all three of us?"

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"

"Of course not", Hermione says briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and took through my books, there might be something useful..."

"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."

"Not if I can help it", Hermione says grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

Harry looks like he might cry. Honestly, you'd think he expected them to just abandon him to his faith.

 

Are we bullies, Ron thinks for a wild moment after they leave Neville laying on the ground. But no, they had to do that. There was no time to convince Neville, after all.

Suddenly, Harry hisses, and they nearly tumble to the ground as he picks Maeve up.

"It's Quirrell", he says, "Snape's still in his chambers."

"Bloody weird", Ron murmurs.

 

"We're nearly there", Ron mutters to himself. "Let me think, let me think..." This is the most challenging game of chess he's ever played, but he can see how they can win.

The queen turns her blank white face towards him.

Ron's stomach curls. He hopes she won't hit hard enough to kill him.

"Yes..." he says softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."

"No!" His friend's shout, but they don't see it.

"That's chess!" he snaps. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But -"

"Do you want to stop Quirrell or not?"

"Ron -"

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

There is no alternative.

"Ready?" Ron calls, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

He steps forward, and as the Queen raises her hand, he has nothing but a clock in his mind, and thinks, Merlin I hope Mum's not awake to watch it.

Then pain explodes in his head and he doesn't see anything anymore.

 

" -on! -up! Ron!" Hermione's desperate voice calls out to him, and Ron slowly opens his eyes.

"'Mione?" he groans, then: "I told you to hurry!"

"Oh Ron!" she says, hugging him, "We did, but Harry had to go face Quirrell alone, can you stand? We need to get an owl to Professor Dumbledore!"

"Yeah", Ron groans, struggling to get upright, "Let's go!"

They run back, through the key room, where Ron gasps out: "The broom! Get the broom!"

Hermione grabs it, shakily climbing onto it - "Oh I hate flying", she says and they're off.

They fly over the devil's snare, up the trap door - "Buy me a milking-pail", Hermione sings desperatly, dissonantly - out the door and then they race through the corridors to the owlery.

"I wrote a note already", Hermione says breathlessly, "I just need to find it!"

 

They sprint through the entrance hall, towards the stairs, when they crash into -

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione gasps.

"Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" Dumbledore asks seriously, then takes off at a run.

"Let's go after him", Ron says.

"You need go to the hospital wing", Hermione argues, "Now that Dumbledore's here, Harry will be fine, I'm sure of it."

"I don't need to go there", Ron says, not swaying on his feet with worst headache of his life at all. "What if he needs our help?"

"Oh, but -" Hermione bites her lip. "Alright, let's go."

 

They make their way back to the third floor, slower now, with Hermione worridly keeping Ron upright.

 

When they reach the door, Dumbledore is already back, with an unconcious Harry on a stretcher floating next to him.

"Harry!" Ron calls out, running towards him until a wave of nausea crashes through him and he falls to his knees.

"Careful, Mr. Weasley", Dumbledore says, "Mr. Potter needs to go to the hospital wing, and so do you two I believe."

"What about Quirrell?" Hermione asks nervously.

Dumbledore hesitates for a moment, then says, gravely: "I will explain after you've been checked over by Madam Pomfrey. I promise that he is not a danger anymore, now."

"Is he dead?" Hermione asks, grey-faced.

"I'm afraid so."

 

"Albus, what are - what happened!" Madam Pomfrey, asks, waving her wand around.

Ron tries to listen to Dumbledores response, but he falls into a soft, warm bed and then he returns into peaceful blackness.

 

The next thing he knows, it's morning, and Harry's lying in the bed next to him, still unconcious and Hermione's back in Gryffindor tower.

"How's Harry?" is the first thing out of his mouth when Madam Pomfrey comes over to check on him.

"He's not going to die", she says, "But if he doesn't wake up soon he'll have to go to St. Mungos. Reckless students", she says under her breath, then louder: "Don't you worry now. He'll be fine, and you can leave today too."

 

Percy, Fred and George tumble into the room after Ron gets dressed.

"Ron", Percy says, "Are you alright? Professor McGonagall told us what happened."

"Ah", Ron says, "Did you write mum yet?"

She's gonna kill him, he thinks as he watches George pull a toilet seat out of his robes and place it on Harry's bedside table.

"McGonagall wrote her", Fred says, grinning, "She's gonna have a heart attack, but -"

"We are very proud of you, of course! Such a disregard for school rules and -"

"- basic personal safety. You are -"

"- truly! -"

"- a worthy little brother to us."

"That's enough", Percy says. "Professor McGonagall explained that you did a great service to the school, even though you were very reckless. I wish you had come to me with your suspicions, I am after all a prefect -"

"Fred and George Weasley!" Madam Pomfrey bellows, "You take that thing out of the hospital wing right this instand!"

"What thing?" George asks innocently.

"That vase?"

"These bedsheets?"

"The chocolate frogs?"

"Oh, let's just go while they do their routine", Percy says, "If we hurry we can still get breakfast, and I'm sure your classmates will be glad to see you."

"Ok", Ron says, giving the twins a wide berth as they leave. He looks back on Harry, then decides to come back later to check on him.

 

The first thing Ron sees when they walk into the great hall is Olivier Wood, loudly crying at the table.

"What's wrong with him?" he asks.

Percy sighs disgustedly, "Today's the last Quidditch game of the year, and -"

"And Harry can't play", Ron finishes. "That's a shame." He can't muster up his usual enthusiasm though. He's just glad Harry's still alive.

"Ron!" Hermione calls out to him. She's sitting next to Neville, who looks tired.

"Hey", Ron says, "How are you, Hermione? And uh, sorry about yesterday, Neville."

"It's fine", he sighs morosly, "Hermione explained everything to me. I just - I wanted to do something good for once, and instead I nearly helped You-Know-Who come back. I can't do anything right."

Ron and Hermione exhange a look.

"That's not true", Ron says, "You can do plenty of things right. You're really good at Herbology, for example."

"And it was still very brave of you to stand up to us", Hermione adds, "You not having all the information doesn't diminish your efforts."

"What she said", Ron agrees.

 

Ron goes to the Quidditch game out of house loyalty, and because he has hope against all odds.

I should have gone visit Harry with Hermione, he thinks after Ravenclaw wins 210 to 40. That was miserable, and a bunch of different students, most of which he doesn't even know disturbed him during to the game to ask after what happened with the famous Harry Potter and You-Know-Who.

 

"If I become Head Boy, I'll have my own room, and I won't have to listen to him anymore", Percy whispers in the common room under Wood's wailing. "I'll have my own room, with my own shower, and Oliver can't try to drown himself in it."

Ron pats his back, and eats a chocolate frog he stole from Harry's pile of gifts. It's not like Harry wouldn't want him to share anyways.

"Sugar Quill?" he offers his brother.

"Sure, thanks", Percy says.

 

"What really happened?" Ron asks Harry after he wakes up.

"It was a big room, with just the mirror in it, you know that one? And Quirrell was standing in front of it and talking to - I thought he was talking to himself at first, but when he spotted me, I heard a second voice, the one I heard threatening Quirrell too.

It told him to use me to get the stone out of the mirror, but when I looked into it, nothing happened and the voice got really angry.

The voice told Quirrell to take of his turban, and he had - he had a face on the back of his head", Harry whispers, "It was Voldemort. He had Voldemort on the back of his head for the whole year..."

"Oh, that's horrible", Hermione says.

Ron feels sick. You-Know-Who was in the castle the whole year. He was face to face with him!

He made faces in Quirrell's class, right at You-Know-Who's face. Oh Merlin.

 

"Hey, Potter", Goyle says, poking his head into their compartement in the train, "Can I talk to you?"

"Alone?", Harry asks.

Goyle stares at him dumbly, then comes in completely and closes the door behind himself.

"Is it true?" he asks, "Did you really fight the Dark Lord?"

"Yes", Harry says simply.

"So you're stronger", Goyle says, "You've beaten him twice."

"I guess", Harry says, blinking. "But he wasn't really alive anymore. He's just a shade now."

"My father used to be a follower of his", Goyle admits, "He's always talking about his glory and power, but he's not. He lost to a child."

"That's true", Ron says, "He's pretty pathetic."

"I don't want to follow him", Goyle says.

"Don't do that then", Harry says.

"Malfoy will hate me, and my father too."

"That's not our problem, is it?" Ron snaps. What does he want from them? He called Hermione a mudblood.

"If you want to be on our side, or our friend", Harry says, "Then you have to stop hating muggleborns. If Hermione forgives you, we can try it. But that's her decision."

Goyle is quiet, opens his mouth, closes it again, then gets up and leaves.

 

"You must come and stay this summer", Ron says, "both of you - I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks", Harry says, "I'll need something to look forward to."

They pass through the barrier together, and immediatly, Ron can hear Ginny scream. Of course she'd be more excited about Harry Potter than about their brothers.

He rolls his eyes.

"Busy year?" his mother asks, smiling.

"Very", Harry says, "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

Harry's uncle arrives, and drags him away, and Ron is worried. So is Hermione, he can tell.

"Are you really friends with Harry Potter?" Ginny sqeaks, "What's he like, is he brave? Is he funny?"

"He's slain a dastardly foe!" George proclaims.

"Foiled a most evil plan!"

"Became the youngest seeker in a century!"

"Beat our record for most lost house points in one go!"

"You're lying!" Ginny shrieks, "He would never!"

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the song "Stadt" by Cassandra Steen.


End file.
